Endangered species thrive on US military ranges SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND, Calif. (AP) — The sign leaves no doubt about the risk in entering the steep seaside hills that North America’s rarest bird calls home: “Danger. Boom. Explosives. Unexploded Ordnance and Laser Range in Use. Keep Out.” Despite the weekly explosions that rock this Navy-owned island off the Southern California coast, the San Clemente Island loggerhead shrike has been rebounding from the brink of extinction, even on the militar...

Not vacation: Summer learning programs crucial WASHINGTON (AP) — For many students and teachers, summer vacation was more like summer term. Reading lists. Science camps. Portfolio development. The to-do list for kids and teachers sound remarkably alike. Schools are on the hook to improve student performance on high-stakes tests, administrators are eyeing more science and technology instruction, and parents are demanding more for their children. Some studies suggest students lose as much as...

Obama signs student loan deal, says job isn’t done WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a measure restoring lower interest rates for student loans, pledging the hard-fought compromise would be just the first step in a broader, concerted fight to rein in the costs of a college education. Encircled by lawmakers from both parties in the Oval Office, Obama praised Democrats and Republicans alike for agreeing — finally — on what he called a sensible, reasonable approach t...

Postal Service had $740 million third-quarter loss WASHINGTON (AP) — The Postal Service said Friday that it trimmed its losses to $740 million over the last three months by consolidating processing facilities, cutting hours for workers and post offices and reducing workers’ compensation costs. Still, year-to-date, the Postal Service had losses totaling $3.9 billion, and the agency said that without help from Congress its financial woes will worsen. The report for the financial quarter ending J...

Obama: Progress made on disability claims backlog ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — President Barack Obama assured disabled veterans Saturday that his administration is making progress on reducing a backlog of disability claims and said the number of requests for assistance has fallen by nearly one-fifth since peaking at more than 600,000 just a few months ago. In an address at the Disabled American Veterans’ convention in Orlando, Obama also announced a national plan to guide mental health research, as w...

RV park ordinances on campgrounds up for debateA meeting this week between city officials and RV park operators prompted changes to a proposed ordinance regulating the recreational campgrounds. Russellville City Planner David Harris said the meeting was convened after some local park operators expressed concerns at last month’s City Council meeting about the ordinance’s limit on length of stay in RV parks and the restriction of individual meters at each camp site. Harris said he included b...

City Council approves new Dover SRODOVER — The Dover City Council approved a new school resource officer for the school district at its Tuesday meeting. Dover Mayor Pat Johnson said the council approved Darin Kirkland as the school district’s SRO. Kirkland, 45, of Russellville had previously worked as the SRO for Pope County through the sheriff’s office and as a part-time officer with the Dover Marshal’s Office. Kirkland said the transition will be “smooth as silk.” “I’m famili...

Voters could see multiple marijuana proposalsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas voters could see multiple attempts to legalize medical marijuana on the ballot next year. Two groups are vying to put similar proposed initiated acts before voters in 2014 after a push to legalize medical marijuana narrowly failed in the November 2012 general election. This week, a measure from a group called Arkansans for Responsible Medicine moved a step closer to voters when Attorney General Dustin McDaniel certi...

Gov. Beebe names Smith state health director LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Gov. Mike Beebe has named Nathaniel Smith as director and state health officer for the Arkansas Department of Health. Beebe on Friday announced he was naming Smith permanently to the position. Smith has been serving as interim director since February, when Paul Halverson left the post to take a job in Indiana. Halverson had served as director since 2005. Beebe said in a news release that Smith had proven himself to be a stea...

US jobless claims at 6-year low, but hiring lags WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans who have a job may take comfort in knowing that companies are laying off fewer people than at any time since before the Great Recession. The government said Thursday that weekly applications for U.S. unemployment benefits have averaged 335,500 over the past month. That’s the lowest level since November 2007, which was one month before the recession began. But while most companies have stopped cutting jobs, many rema...

Fort Hood trial resumes as lawyers demand removal FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — The soldier on trial for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood was allowed to continue representing himself on Thursday after the judge ordered his standby attorneys to stay on as advisers, despite their claims that the Army psychiatrist was trying to secure his own death sentence. The military lawyers ordered to help Maj. Nidal Hasan had asked the judge to either scale back their advisory duties or allow them to take ...

Senate control hinges on fate of Southern Dems WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are counting on some Southern comfort to win Senate control next year. The fate of Democratic incumbents in GOP-trending Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina, the ability of the 71-year-old GOP leader to hold his Kentucky seat and the eventual outcome of a Georgia primary will help decide whether Republicans gain the six seats necessary to grab power in the Senate for the final two years of Barack Obama’s presid...

Palestinians complain to Kerry about settlements WASHINGTON (AP) — The second round of U.S.-brokered Mideast peace talks will be held next week, the State Department said Thursday, even as the Palestinians protested new Israeli settlement activity. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Israel’s latest settlement announcements were an indication of “Israel’s bad faith and lack of seriousness” in the talks. The letter was sent Thursda...

NOAA trims forecast for busy hurricane season WASHINGTON (AP) — This Atlantic hurricane season may not be quite as busy as federal forecasters once thought, but they still warn of an unusually active and potentially dangerous few months to come. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration updated its hurricane season forecast Thursday, trimming back the number of hurricanes they expect this year to between six and nine. That’s a couple less than they predicted back in May. The for...

US messaging mess in Egypt complicates diplomacy WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration’s efforts to promote democracy in Egypt are being complicated by what many Egyptians see as mixed and confusing messages coming from Washington, exacerbating already high anti-American sentiment and threatening broader U.S. goals in the region. Any administration might find it difficult to safely navigate the intricacies of Egypt’s current political tumult, but some U.S. officials concede they have be...

Sadness, joy inherent in SC couple’s adoption case COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Years into their attempt to adopt a Cherokee girl, Matt and Melanie Capobianco say they can empathize with any sadness the girl’s biological father might be feeling after being ordered to turn her over to them. In late 2011, the Charleston-area couple was in a lawyer’s office, tearfully handing over Veronica — whom they’d raised since birth — to the father, Dusten Brown, who lives in Nowata in northeastern Oklahoma. “It w...

Remington breaks ground on Lonoke plant expansion LONOKE (AP) — Remington Arms Company broke ground Thursday on an expansion to its ammunition plant in Arkansas, adding between 50 and 100 jobs in a project that the company says will help meet a growing demand by gun owners around the country. Officials with the North Carolina-based firm said they expected to complete work by June 2014 on the 35,000-square-foot building adjacent to its existing plant in Lonoke, located about 20 miles east of L...

Coleman: Rival’s tax cut plan ’short-sighted’ LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Republican gubernatorial hopeful Curtis Coleman on Thursday criticized rival Asa Hutchinson’s proposal to phase out Arkansas’ income tax over time as “short-sighted,” accusing the former congressman of not taking a broader look at the state’s tax code. Coleman told members of the Political Animals Club that a larger overhaul of the state’s tax code is needed to make Arkansas more competitive with its neighbors. Coleman said ...

Group: Apps not effective tool for teaching babies WASHINGTON (AP) — Smartphones don’t make smart babies, an advocacy group declared Wednesday in a complaint to the government about mobile apps that claim to help babies learn. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, whose allegations against “Baby Einstein” videos eventually led to nationwide consumer refunds, is urging federal regulators to examine the marketing practices of Fisher-Price’s “Laugh & Learn” mobile apps and Open Solutions’...